Marin Professional Guides

Marin Professional – A Guide to Bidding on the Google Display Network

INTRODUCTION

Our automated bidding solution manages Group and Managed Placement bids for campaigns on the Google Display Network (GDN). By maintaining only 1 topic or target per group, and setting the target/topic to use the “default bid” (which is the group-level bid), the platform can properly optimize bids for Interest Targets, Remarketing Targets, and Topics.

RECOMMENDED WORKFLOW

Since Managed Placements provide the most granular level of targeting, we recommend using the following workflow to leverage automated bidding for GDN campaigns:

Structure GDN campaigns so that each Target or Topic is mapped to its own Group.

Use our bidding solution to optimize Group bids for Automated Placements (defined by Topics, Targets, or Keywords).

You can also upload creative-related columns (e.g. Headline, Description 1, and Destination URL, Image) at the same time you upload groups.

Additionally, you can implicitly create campaigns at the same time you upload groups:

Parent campaigns are implicitly created if they do not already exist. There is no Campaign Daily Budget column in Bulk Add/Edit Groups. When the preview page becomes available, there would be an option to specify daily campaign budget (to be something different from the default).

Daily campaign budget for new campaign is defaulted to the average of the campaign budgets under the publisher account. If the new campaign is the first campaign ever to be created under the publisher account, the default depends on the publisher. In the case of Facebook, the default campaign budget is 5.00.

This is only available when a Facebook account is selected from the Publisher Account drop-down.

Images can be uploaded via the Upload Image Zip File section. Note that the file name referenced in the Image column in the bulk sheet needs to refer to the image file name in the zip file (e.g. yoga.jpg). Alternatively, you may refer to an image that already exists in the Image Library by only including the image name (e.g. yoga).

When the upload is processed, the changes can be sent to Facebook in the Activity Log or click the Post Now link.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here are some commonly asked questions about Facebook bulk uploads:

Can we bulk upload campaigns, groups and creative in a single upload? Or do we need to go and create the campaigns 1 by 1 and then link the bulk uploads to those campaigns?

The platform’s Bulk Add/Edit Groups functionality now allows you to bulk upload Facebook campaigns, groups, and creatives in a single upload.

Will the application automatically create new campaigns/groups if I upload creatives to a campaign that has not yet been created?

Yes, implicit parent campaign creation is part of bulk group upload.

Marin Professional – A Guide to the Google Analytics Setup Wizard for Marin Pro

WHAT IS THE GOOGLE ANALYTICS SETUP WIZARD?

You can track revenue and conversions in a number of different ways, including using the Google Analytics goal tracking feature. To make integration with Google Analytics as simple as possible, the platform offers a Setup Wizard which will guide you through the integration step-by-step.

Note: You have to have a defined mapping or this will not work.

HOW TO ACCESS GOOGLE ANALYTICS SETUP WIZARD

To set up this type of tracking for your account, follow these simple steps:

Click the Admin tab.

Click the Tracking sub-tab.

(Optional) If you are already on a different tracking source (ie. Publisher Tracking or Marin Tracking), click on the Tracking Source link at the bottom of this screen.

From this Conversion Tracking settings, select Use Google Analytics.

Please tick the Bidding Eligible box if you would like the goal (conversion type) to be added to conversion totals in the platform. This also means that if you are using Marin Bidding, this conversion event will be used for bidding optimization.Typically, conversion types that are eligible for bidding include sales, purchases or other revenue-based events. Non-biddable conversion types may be page views, coupon prints or other non-revenue based actions you are tracking — but that do not affect your bidding strategy or the business’s primary conversion event.

In addition, currently there is only one goal (known as a conversion type in Marin) that can be set as added to totals for Google Analytics integration. Unfortunately it is not possible to add two goals at the moment. There is a workaround for this: simply join two goals as one in Google Analytics.

HOW TO USE THE GOOGLE ANALYTICS SETUP WIZARD

The Google Analytics wizard is a 4 step process that will guide you through the following steps:

Granting Access: When you begin the process, you will be directed to a Google Analytics login page. You need to have admin access to the Google Analytics account.

Select an Account & Profile: Choose the account & profile associated with your account. Note: you can link one Google Analytics Profile to each Marin account

Select Goals: Use the checkboxes next to Ecommerce and/or each goal you wish to track. You can track multiple goals plus ecommerce, but only one conversion type can be used for automated bidding which is selected by choosing the “bidding eligible” check box.

Appending Tracking: Checking the box on this screen will automatically append the necessary Google Analytics UTM parameters to all keywords, creatives, and product target URLs in your account.

Note:

When a Google Analytics profile has no goals, Google Analytics Setup Wizard gets stuck at the Step 3 “Select Goals” and you cannot finish the setup to track E-Commerce. For a workaround, pleaseyou create one Google Analytics goal so you can complete linking. When you complete the linking, you can remove the goal, if it is not necessary. You may remove the goal upon completion of the linking process.

You need toPlease ensure that the tracking parameters are built within the Destination URLs for tracking to work properly.

USING ADWORDS AUTO-TAGGING

The platform integrates with Google Analytics in two ways: with AdWords auto-tagging either on or off.

Autotagging on: Bing URLs will be updated, Google URLs will not.

Autotagging off: Bing and Google URLs will have updated parameters added to their URLs. Note: The platform only pulls paid conversions with a ‘|’ in the utm_content value in Google Analytics when using an ‘autotagging off’ integration.

If you wish to disable auto-tagging, follow these steps in Adwords:

Click the main My account tab.

Click Preferences in the left-hand menu.

Under Tracking, click Edit next to the Auto-tagging option.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

In The Goals Section, It Claims That My Profile Doesn’t Have Ecommerce (And/Or Goals), But I Know That It Does. What Is Going Wrong?

The Wizard finds Ecommerce and Goal data based on the last 7 days of activity. Please make sure that transactions and/or conversions are being recorded to bring these in.

This is also a known issue within the platform in which this message appears even though you have goals and/or ecommerce in your GA account. In this case, please ignore the error message.

Marin Professional – Frequently Asked Questions About Billing

1. WHAT IS THE PRICING FOR MARIN PROFESSIONAL?

Marin Professional is priced at the higher of: 5% of the ad spend linked in or $500/month. You can have an unlimited number of users.

We offer a free 21-day trial upon sign up. The free trial is full-featured and not limited in any way compared to the paid version of the application.

2. HOW IS AD SPEND CALCULATED?

Every day we record the ad spend of your engine accounts that are linked into Marin Professional. Your bill is calculated based on these ad spend figures. If you link and unlink accounts throughout the month, your total monthly spend reported in the application may be different than the ad spend we use for billing purposes.

3. I SIGNED UP FOR A FREE TRIAL AND NOTICED A $499 CHARGE ON MY CREDIT CARD BEFORE MY TRIAL PERIOD ENDED. WHY WAS I CHARGED?

The $499 charge you might see upon signup is a temporary pre-authorization test charge issued by our payment gateway to ensure that the credit card entered is solvent for at least the minimum service charge. The charge should disappear from your statement within 24 hours. You will only be charged for usage incurred after your 21-day free trial period.

4. WHEN AM I BILLED?

Your billing cycle coincides with the calendar month, i.e. it is from the 1st until the last day of the month. We will invoice and charge your credit card few days after a billing cycle ends. The minimum fee for your first month is prorated from the day that your paid subscription starts.

5. HOW DO I CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION?

Submit a ticket requesting to cancel your subscription. In the title of the ticket, indicate your intent to cancel and select Miscellaneous as the ticket category.

6. DO YOU BILL IN THE SAME CURRENCY AS THE ACCOUNT?

For Marin Pro Customers, credit card billings are only supported in USD, GBP, and EUR. During signup as a Pro customer, you’ll be offered a choice of one of these three currencies. Note that you’ll be billed in your currency of choice (one of the three supported) regardless of any of your Platform client currencies. Once chosen, your billing currency should not be changed.

7. IN WHAT CASES DO YOU CHARGE TAX?

Marin Software is required to charge sales tax on the invoice amount in the following states:

Arizona

Connecticut

Indiana

Massachusetts

Michigan

New York

Ohio

South Carolina

Texas

Utah

Washington

Marin Professional – A Guide to Revenue and Conversion Tracking with Marin Pro

INTRODUCTION

Our application offers a flexible approach to tracking revenue and/or conversions (referred to as revenue capture, broadly speaking). Revenue can be tracked in three fundamental ways:

Publisher tracking (i.e. Google conversion counter)

Marin’s Tracking Solution

Google Analytics integration

Our goal is to allow you to use the method that makes the most sense for your business.

Publisher Trackers

Google and Bing offer their own tools to track conversions. Setting up a publisher tracker involves adding a snippet of JavaScript code to your website. This code is publisher-specific and is available directly from the publisher. Our application will download the revenue and conversion information as part of the publisher cost reports.

Note:

When using publisher tracking for Google, only Google’s “one-per-click” conversions will sync down to the platform’s total “Conversions” column. There is currently no support to bring in Google’s “many-per-click” conversions.

Marin Pro Tracking

Similar to the publisher JavaScript approaches, we offer you a tracking system for revenue capture. The advantage of using the Tracker is that you will only need a single JavaScript snippet to handle all search engines. Using our application’s tracker pixel requires that each keyword have its own URL with a unique keyword ID. If you are using Tracking, select the checkbox on the page as indicated below and the tracking tool will automatically append unique IDs to your keywords.

Google Analytics

You have the option of leveraging a pre-existing Google Analytics integration to bring conversion and revenue data into Marin.

HOW TO SET UP PUBLISHER TRACKING

For clients who send conversion and revenue information to the publishers, our application will automatically pull down this data when cost reports are downloaded. If you currently utilize revenue tracking from the publisher, confirm that our application is successfully importing the data.

USING MARIN PRO’S TRACKER

To set up Marin Pro Tracker quickly and easily, you can use the Marin Pro Tracker Setup Wizard. For more information and a step-by-step guide, please read our comprehensive help article from the Marin Professional category.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

To integrate with Google Analytics, you can use our Setup Wizard. Fore more information and a step-by-step guide, please read our comprehensive help article from the Marin Professional category.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does Marin Professional support auto-tagging for Google Analytics?

The platform currently does not support auto-tagging. The reasons behind this are the following:

Google Analytics sends us data for the served match type when using the auto-tagging method rather than the bidded match type. Google Analytics Manual tagging approach ensures that we receive the right bidded match type. Example: There is only a keyword “ABC”, match type: “broad” within your account. So when keyword “ABC”, match type: “phrase” was actually served and populated in the revenue file, this would not attribute to anything since there is no “phrase” keyword variation within your account.

For keywords with special characters, they might look to have not populated correctly in the revenue file. For example, if there is a keyword “example úno”, match type “broad” in your account. Within a revenue file, this keyword might be send as “example unÃº”, match type “broad”. This is due to how Google Analytics sends us the data for the keyword text.

There might be failed rows in the revenue upload file with Result “Invalid Match Type “null” (expected Broad, Phrase or Exact)” which seems to be due to the way the GA API handles remarketing/content data at the moment.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The platform only pulls in one per click conversion data from AdWords. If you are using many per click, the platform won’t be able to attribute the data correctly.

Marin Professional – A Guide to Bidding Best Practices

INTRODUCTION

There are five different types of bidding available within Marin Pro. Below is a description of each of these, followed by a series of best practices that we recommend to get the best possible results from our patented bidding algorithm.

Cost Per Lead

The Cost Per Lead (CPL) or Cost Per Action (CPA) business target seeks to maximize the number of conversions at a target CPL. For example, if target CPL is set to $10, then the system will maximize the number of leads while spending no more than $10 per lead. Capturing revenue data is not necessary for this business target.

Margin

The Margin business target seeks to maximize revenue while maintaining a target profit margin. For example, a target profit margin of 30% would tell the system to spend $7 on a conversion with revenue of $10. This option is only available if revenue is tracked.

ROI (Return on Investment)

The Return-on-Investment (ROI) business target seeks to maximize revenue while maintaining a target ROI, where ROI = Profit / Spend. For example, if a conversion costs $10 to acquire and produces $30 in revenue, then the ROI is (30-10) / 10 = 200%. This option is only available if revenue is tracked.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

The Return-on-Advertising-Spend (ROAS) business target seeks to maximize revenue while maintaining a target ROAS, where ROAS = Revenue / Spend.

For example, if a lead costs $10 to acquire and produces $30 in revenue, then the ROAS is 30/10 = 3.00. Note, this is a multiple, not a percentage i.e. a 3.00 ROAS is equivalent to 300%. This option is only available if revenue is tracked.

Position-Based

Position-based bidding(PBB) targets a specific position or position range, while staying within your budget and max CPC, if specified. Historical conversions are not necessary for this goal type. Numbers must be between 1-10, and can include one digit after the decimal point. For example, a target position range of 1.5 – 3.5, will seek a position within the range without exceeding the daily budget or max CPC.

Please note that, for all position-based bidding goals, the Aggressiveness slider should be placed all the way to the left.

BEST PRACTICES

Here are some best practices on how to set successful bidding goals:

Do not use automated bidding on campaigns managed by Google Conversion Optimizer or Budget Optimizer. To use the Platform’s automated bidding solution on these campaigns, you should turn off Google Conversion or Budget Optimizer. When doing so, please follow the steps here to prevent volatility.

Do not group Branded campaigns with non-brand campaigns

Do not group PLA campaigns with Search campaigns

Set your target within 20% of your historical CPA (or margin, ROAS or ROI). A good practice when starting automated bidding is to set a target similar to what was currently achieved for the 30 previous days. This allows the algorithm to settle and generate more conversion volume.

To limit risk you should set the value for Never Bid above to prevent an unplanned spike in CPC.

Make sure content and search campaigns are separated to allow the algorithm to bid efficiently on tail terms.

A note on Aggression: When you start bidding, it is not recommended to modify the aggression level (available in the bidding options). Indeed, this function enables to make the algorithm more conservative or more aggressive. The aggressive mode will push your bids to ensure your presence on the first page. This is an interesting function when presence is your main priority, but not when you are trying to optimize short-term profitability.

Getting Started with Marin Professional – Recommended Alerts for Reporting

Introduction

Alerts are an easy way to monitor performance, letting you know when pre-defined conditions are met. They can provide insight into new opportunities, reveal inefficient performance, and help with account maintenance.

You’ll want to ensure that these types of alerts are actionable and do not occur every single day – alerts should be infrequent enough that they are immediately actionable. As a rule of thumb, if the alert you create contains data on that day, you may want to be more restrictive.

RECOMMENDED MONTHLY REPORTS

Top Campaigns Month over Month

Spend Changes Month over Month

Worst Campaigns Month over Month

Getting Started with Marin Pro – How to Boost Your Quality Score

INTRODUCTION

Quality Score is an estimate of how relevant your ads, keywords, and landing page are to the person seeing your ad. Search engines reward advertisers with higher Quality Scores by lowering their CPCs over time. That means you pay less per click when your keywords have a higher Quality Score. Let’s look at 5 easy ways to boost your Quality Score:

1. REVIEW HIGH-VOLUME KEYWORDS WITH LOW QUALITY SCORE.

High-volume keywords with low Quality Scores tend to eat up budget with little to no conversion results, so target these ones first.

Try to improve the Quality Score of these keywords by placing them in their own groups, writing more relevant ad copy, or adjusting your landing pages.

2. TRACK AND MONITOR HISTORICAL QUALITY SCORE IN THE VIEW BUILDER.

Check out your historical Quality Scores, using the View Builder available in the upper right side of the grid.

Open the View Builder, click to the Traffic/Cost section, then select the Hist. QS column to view it in the grid.

3. CONSIDER RESTRUCTURING LARGE AD GROUPS TO INCREASE RELEVANCY.

It’s important to limit the number of keywords per ad group, and make sure your ad copy is targeted to a specific product or service.

We recommend breaking down ad groups with over 20-30 keywords into smaller ad groups that are more focused on a single topic. This will help you craft better ads and send people to the appropriate landing page.

To identify groups with a high-volume of keywords with Marin, click on the Campaigns tab, and navigate to the Groups sub tab. Next click on the View Builder. Click to the Advanced section and click the Active Keywords checkbox to bring that column into your view.

Now you can filter for ad groups containing more than 30 active keywords.

Marin provides several options for creating and editing creative and ad groups, including editing single and multiple items directly within the grid, or doing a bulk upload.

Sometimes even smaller ad groups can be unfocused, so it’s a good idea to spot check and keep only highly relevant ads together.

Go to the Groups sub tab to story by clicks, impressions, and publisher cost. Narrow the focus of groups that are responsible for the majority of click, impressions, and cost to maximize the effectiveness of your messaging and ultimately drive up your click-through rates even more.

Marin Professional – A Guide to Managing and Linking Accounts in Marin Pro

INTRODUCTION

To manage existing campaigns, groups, creatives, and keywords with our application, you first need to link them. Linking accounts allows all of the changes made in the application to be synchronized with the publishers.

HOW TO LINK ACCOUNTS

Upon initial signup, simply follow the steps below in order to link your accounts to the application:

Enter in your account credentials and click Continue to verify the account. Make sure to use the individual account credentials, not the application account credentials.

Add each of your accounts one-by-one until all of your publisher accounts are linked. Once complete, click Finish at the bottom of the screen to complete the process.

We will then proceed to download your structural and cost information into the application. When your account is ready, you will be notified via email.

If the above doesn’t work, you can share the Adwords account credential with our Support Service team and we’ll try to link the account at our side.

MANAGING LINKED ACCOUNTS

Our application brings in your existing publisher account information by connecting to the publishers via API. All you need are your username, password, and account number for each publisher and our application will do the rest. The time required to link a campaign depends on the size of the campaign. You can check the status of the download by going to Channels >Manage Accounts. There you will see a summary of each account, including its linking status.

STAYING IN SYNC WITH PUBLISHERS

Our application maintains a bi-directional synchronization with the publishers. Every night, it will automatically synchronize any changes made to your accounts. So, for example, any changes made directly with the publishers (e.g. via AdWords Editor), would be picked up the next day.

You can also manually synchronize your accounts by going to Channels >Manage Accounts and pressing the Sync button for the specified account. This is also commonly known as a Hard Sync, or Manual Sync.

Marin Professional – A Guide to Switching from Google Conversion Optimizer to Marin Bidding

INTRODUCTION

Platform Bidding is not compatible with Google’s Conversion Optimizer (CO) or Display Conversion Optimizer (DCO). CO can be left on while platform Folders are being set up, but CO must be turned off and the bids should be manually updated before trafficking the Folders. This walkthrough highlights the key steps that should be taken to ensure a seamless transition from CO to platform Bidding.

Note

When transitioning from GCO to platform Bidding or comparing the two “head to head” we should always:

Incorporate Revenue (differences in order values) in our bidding decisions

Bid to multiple conversion types, when appropriate

Push the client to use Enhanced CPC

Check that the majority of spend is not on Broad match (relative to Exact match)/Consider using Boost by match type

Use the group-level mobile multiplier

Set appropriate timeline and lift expectations

PREPARING FOR TRANSITION

Google Conversion Optimizer does not provide information on how it bids on keywords. When CO is turned off, the bids are reverted to the bids that were in place before CO was initially turned on. To avoid this, we recommend uploading new bids based on recent CPCs. To do so, follow these steps:

Download the most recent two to four week keyword level report with the following columns: [Keyword], [Account], [Campaign], [Group], [Match Type], [Search Bid $] and [Avg. CPC $].

Copy and paste the [Avg. CPC $] column to the [Search Bid $] column and add 25% to 40% to the bid. One can also consider adding a higher % based on position (e.g. 40% for keywords in position 1.0-1.9, 25% for keywords 2.0 +).

Copy the [Search Bid $] column and paste values over the current column.

Remove the [Avg. CPC $] column from the spreadsheet and save the file (it will be uploaded into Marin later).

TRANSITION STEPS

Follow the guidelines for setting up and reviewing folders.

Within AdWords, disable CO for all campaigns involved with Marin Bidding.

Within Marin, manually sync all the above campaigns so that the settings align.

Upload the spreadsheet with the updated bids into Marin.

Set the appropriate Folders to traffic and immediately bid on those Folders.

TRANSITIONING FROM CONVERSION OPTIMIZER TO PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION

Avg Bid data is not captured for keywords opted into Google’s Conversion Optimizer. Although the Portfolio Optimization bidding approach leverages historical Avg Bid data, the models will still run with only historical Avg CPC data.

Another option is to initially transition to the platform’s Algorithmic Optimization approach for 2 weeks, obtain Avg Bid data, and then transition to Portfolio Optimization.

Marin Professional – A Guide to Selecting Bidding Eligibility for Google Analytics

INTRODUCTION

Marin will track and report on all selected conversion events but will only use one conversion event for bidding optimization. If you are using Marin Bidding, this conversion event will be used for bidding optimization.

CONVERSION TYPES ELIGIBLE FOR BIDDING

Typically, conversion types made eligible for bidding are sales, purchases or other revenue based events. Non-biddable conversion types may be page views, coupon prints or other non-revenue based actions you are tracking, but that do not affect your bidding strategy or the business’s primary conversion event.

INTRODUCTION

Below you’ll find some of the most common questions we receive regarding the Marin Pro Bidding Tab and their answers.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I start automated bidding?

When you have the required conversion data (at least 15 conversions), you can set up bidding goals in Bidding > Goals. After you choose your goals, assign campaigns to each goal, and pick your bidding targets, you may hit the Save and Preview button to see the proposed bids for each keyword. After you are comfortable with the changes, you may Traffic these bids to push them out live to the publishers.

How often does bidding run?

Automated bidding runs once a day at 5 PM.

How do I use the responsiveness slider?

The slider scale determines how conservative or aggressive the bid changes will be in order to reach your target goal. Bids set to aggressive will receive a larger change factor, and vice versa for conservative. You may also set a bid cap to ensure that the bids align with your budget goals.

How come all business target options are not available?

By default, CPL (Cost Per Lead) targeting is available; however, the other three business targets rely on revenue data along with the conversions. To enable them, provide revenue data by either doing so through your search engine accounts or by activating the Marin Tracker.

How does Marin handle branded keywords?

The Marin algorithm is able to efficiently bid on all types of keywords. However, there is an extra option for branded keywords. You may set these types of keywords on position-based targeting so that they will always stay in a certain position. You can do this by going within a Goal and then going to the Overrides subtab. Select the keyword and choose the option for position-based targeting.

How do I set manual bidding for a keyword?

You can do this by going within a Goal and then going to the Overrides subtab. Select the keyword and enter in a manual value for “Set Search Bid To”. Please keep in mind that since the algorithm will not touch this bid, you will have to update it manually from time to time.

Why didn’t bidding run on a given day?

Bidding will not run if you have excluded that date for bidding, or if you have Goals set up that have less than 15 conversions.

Where can I see my calculated bids? How do I push them out live?

In Marin bidding, you have the ability to preview bids before they are pushed live. In the grid, you will be able to see the bids the system has calculated in the “Calc. Search Bid $” column. Refer to the “Bid Calc. Date” column for information on the recentness of the bids. Once you have set up your bidding goals, you can preview your bids by going to the Summary tab for each goal. When you are comfortable with these bids, you may hit the Traffic button on that page to push them live.

How do I use excluded dates?

The application gives you the ability to exclude certain dates from bidding. This tool is useful when you experience periods of unusual activity that, if not excluded, might inaccurately affect the decisions of the bidding algorithm. Such dates might include site maintenance, outages, technical difficulties, and one-day promotions. Under the Summary tab, click the “Excluded Dates” link at the top right. Enter in your list of excluded dates in the box.

How do I change my business target value? How do I change the target altogether?

To change the target value, go to the “Change Settings” link under the Bidding Summary tab for each goal. Use the slider to adjust to your target value. To change your target altogether, for example from CPL to ROAS, click the “Change Target” link at the top right. You will have to set up your goal again.

Marin Professional – An Overview of our Bidding Solution

INTRODUCTION

Our application’s bidding approach is centered on setting financial targets for paid search conversions. Depending on the business model, these targets can be either cost per conversion or a percent of revenue. The application’s calculates bids to maximize revenue at the financial targets you set based on historical conversion rates and conversion values.

THE BIDDING PROCESS

The bidding process involves forecasting each keyword’s conversion rate and value per conversion in order to obtain its optimal bid. These calculations can be based on the keyword’s own historical data, or a blend of its own data and data of the other keywords. “High volume” keywords use their own, whereas “low volume” keywords are clustered with related keywords’ historical data.

When calculating a bid for a keyword, the bidding algorithm employs a progressive lookback – it considers the most recent data first. It first starts with the previous 7 days of data and continues to look back until a statistically significant number of clicks has been reached.

For low volume keywords, the conversion rate is forecasted by blending the keyword’s own performance with data from other low volume keywords.

For more information on Bidding, please refer to the Bidding section of the Knowledge Base.

INTRODUCTION

This article will answer some of the common questions that we receive around the Admin tab within Marin Professional. If you have further questions, please consult your platform representative.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the Activity Log?

The Activity Log records every change made within the application that is pushed out to a publisher. When changes are made within the application, they immediately appear in the Activity Log for review. Here, clients can elect to delete the actions, or immediately send out the changes, by clicking the Post Changes button. If no action is taken, the changes will be queued and pushed to the publishers in the application’s nightly synchronization process. Any errors incurred, including errors made within the application and errors sent back by the publisher, will also be posted on this page.

What if I don’t post my changes in the Activity Log?

Every night, the application automatically pushes out any pending changes that remain in the Activity Log. So if you forget to push changes manually, they will still be posted, unless the times have a Hold status. You must take an item off Hold status before it can be pushed live.

Can I roll back changes if I make a mistake?

If you have not yet posted the changes, you may roll them back by checking the task and pressing the Cancel button. Doing so will restore your account in its previous state before the change was made. You may not roll back changes once they have been pushed out to the publisher.

What is a “Client” and how do I use them in Marin?

A client account is helpful for organizing separate and distinct lines of business. Agencies can use several client accounts for each agency client. Direct advertisers can use client accounts to separate out publisher client accounts with different business goals.

What is the difference between a regular user and an Administrator user?

Administrator users can change privileges for other users, add and remove users, and add and remove clients. Administrators also have full read/write access regardless of the settings on their privileges. Administrative users are indicated in user lists with an asterisk after their name.

What is Marin Tracking versus publisher tracking?

Marin tracking is our proprietary tracking solution. Choose Marin tracking if you are currently not using publisher tracking (i.e. Google Conversion Counter and/or Bing Tracking Pixel). Marin tracking also allows you to consolidate conversion tracking for all publishers in one place. Please note that Marin tracking requires all campaigns to have keyword level URLs. If you are currently using publisher tracking already you may choose to implement it as your tracking option.

How do I activate tracking?

Publisher tracking will be activated as soon as you select it as your tracking option. There will be a 1 day delay for conversions to come in, as the system collects this information in its nightly sync. To activate Marin tracking, follow the steps in the Tracking wizard under Admin > Tracking. Once you have successfully fired a test conversion, you will know that Tracking is working. The Marin tracker will upload the revenue and conversion information nightly.

What is the Synchronize button, and when do I use it?

The Synchronize button in the Linking Wizard (accessible via the Channels tab) allows you to bring your Marin account and your publisher accounts into a state of equilibrium. For example, if you make a change within your Google account, it needs to be synced with your Marin account in order for the change to show. Marin does perform a nightly sync with the publisher to bring any new information into the application, but if you need to kick off an immediate sync, you may use the Synchronize button.

Can I use a Google MCC account?

You cannot directly link in an MCC account; you must link in each individual child account within your MCC. You can, however, still use your MCC credentials to do this.

Marin Professional – A Guide to Using Google Analytics utm_content in Destination URLs

INTRODUCTION

To track conversion data from Google Analytics, Marin automatically appends parameters to keyword destination URLs. However, if your keyword destination URLs already has utm_content in the parameter, the URLs will not be appended. As a result Marin will not be able to track Google analytics data in Marin.

WHAT THE UTM_CONTENT PARAMETER USED FOR

Google Analytics uses utm_content for A/B testing and content-targeted ads. It’s used differentiate ads or links that point to the same URL. This is an optional parameter. Examples: utm_content=logolink or utm_content=textlink

Third parties may use utm_cotent for other purposes. If you are unsure what utm_content is being used for check with the person who set up tracking.

HOW TO DETERMINE IF UTM_CONTENT ALREADY EXISTS IN DESTINATION URLS

Before you set up Google Analytics, you can check whether utm_content is used. Follow the steps below:

In Marin Pro go to the Creative tab.

Add the Destination URL column from the View Builder (if this column is not already displayed).

Click the Filter icon in the Destination URL column header.

Apply the filter “contains” “utm_content”

Check to see if any results are returned.

Follow the same steps on the Keywords tab.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I still use Google Analytics?

If you do not need to use utm_content parameters in your keyword URLs, then our Support team can walk you through how to remove the parameters and set up Google Analytics. Please file a help ticket for assistance and a support person will contact you to set things up.

Who We Are…

PowerTraffick is a full service digital performance marketing company. We are a top PPC Agency that offers Google AdWords help from certified AdWords expert consultants and Pay-Per Click (PPC) campaign account managers.